Research Groups

Welcome to the web page of the Biosensors and Biointerfaces research group at UNSW led by Scientia Professor Justin Gooding. We specialise in the molecule level modification of surfaces using self-assembled monolayers, biological molecules and nanomaterials to impart a desired functionality to that surface such as to:

• Selectively detect an analyte - biosensors,
• Allow efficient electrical communication with biological molecules - bioelectronics,
• To enable fundamental studies into electron transfer at surfaces - molecules electronics,
• Influence biological processes - biomaterials.

The research group has around 25 members working on a variety of research projects funded through the Australian Research Council Discovery, Linkage and Centre of Excellence programs as well as, the National Health and Medical Research Council and a variety of industrial sponsors.

The group is also part of the Australian Centre for Nanomedicine of which Professor Gooding is one of the three directors. As a result much of our research has a nanomedicine focus where we modify surfaces for diagnostic devices, imaging and biomaterials as well as more fundamental work on electron transfer, catalysis and cell-surface interactions.

There are six main research projects in the group:

1. Immunosensors for pesticide detection in environmental analysis (with CSIRO) and for protein biomarkers for biomedical applications (with a US based biosensing company) (details...)
2. Modified porous silicon photonic crystals for developing cell chips for personalized medicine, toxin detection and nanotoxicology (with Dr. Peter Reece, Physics UNSW and A/Prof Katharina Gaus, Medicine UNSW, (details...).
3. Nanoparticle based biosensors for ultrasensitive detection for medical diagnostics (with Professor Rose Amal, Chemical Engineering, UNSW and Prof. Hibbert Chemistry UNSW) (details...).
4. Silicon quantum dots as biocompatible nanomaterials for biolabelling (details...).
5. Understanding electron transfer through a new class of molecular wires (with Professor Michael Paddon-Row, Chemistry UNSW) (details...).
6. Bioelectronics on silicon surfaces (details...).

These different projects are explained in more detail on the research pages.

News

October 17, 2011: Today Justin, with collaborators Nick Di Girolamo and Denis Wakefield in medicine, was awarded an NHMRC project grant entitled "A nanomedicine strategy for detecting and modulating protease activity in vivo" valued at $439,925 over three years.

6 September 2011: Justin and former group members Dr. Till Böcking and Assistant Professor Kris Kilian, along with collaborators, Associate Professor Katharina Gaus, Dr. Peter Reece and Prof Mike Gal are short listed for the Eureka Prize in Interdisciplinary Science.

26th August 2011: Callie Fairman, Leo Lai and Albert Ng all graduate with their Ph.D.

August 2011: New Ph.D. students Aravind Ramachandran (Wollongong and India) and Yael Barth (Canada, Israel and Argentina) arrive.

June 2011: Group publishes a Nature Immunology paper as part of a research program led by our collaborator A/Prof Katharina Gaus in the Centre for Vascular Research

13th May 2011: Justin wins the RACI Electrochemistry Division R.H. Stokes Medal to be awarded at the 2012 ISE Spring Meeting in Perth

9th May 2011 Ph.D. candidate Stephen Parker was awarded an AINSE Post graduate research award for three years. Congratulations Stephen!